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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Protection and Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #256719
Title: Development of Quality Control Procedures for Lepidoptera

Author
item Carpenter, James
item SIMMONS, GREG - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
item BLOMEFIELD, TOM - Agricultural Research Council Of South Africa
item Hight, Stephen

Submitted to: International Organization for Biological Control
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2010
Publication Date: 10/19/2010
Citation: Carpenter, J.E., Simmons, G., Blomefield, T., Hight, S.D. 2010. Development of Quality Control Procedures for Lepidoptera. International Organization for Biological Control (IOBC) Global Working Group on Arthropod Mass Rearing and Quality Control (AMRQC) October 19-22, 2010, Vienna, Austria.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Lepidopteran species are among the most destructive insect pests throughout the world. The sterile insect technique (SIT), within an area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) approach, has proven to be a valuable tactic for controlling and eradicating important moth pests. Improving laboratory-reared moth quality will increase the efficacy of released sterile moths and will support the continued use and further expansion of the SIT to target key lepidopteran pests. In an effort to meet this challenge, the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture initiated a Coordinated Research Project, “Increasing the Efficiency of Lepidoptera SIT by Enhanced Quality Control,” in 2009 with participating scientists from 13 different countries. The stated objective of this project is the development and use of improved quality control/management systems for all aspects of the SIT through the following goals: (a) identifying and characterizing factors and variables that affect quality and field performance of released moths; (b) developing and improving tools and methods to assess, predict and enhance the field performance of released moths based on insect quality; and (c) developing new and improved methods for enhancing rearing systems, facilitating the selection for performance or fitness traits that improve colony establishment, refurbishing insect production facilities, as well as increasing the field performance of released moths. Our parallel research efforts supporting ongoing SIT projects against three lepidopteran pests (codling moth, light brown apple moth, and South American cactus moth) initially have focused on relationships between abiotic variables, laboratory parameters and field performance of released moths.